Accreting Neutron Stars in Low-Mass X-ray Binaries
Abstract
Neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (NS LMXBs) are systems in which a neutron star accretes matter from a Roche-lobe-filling companion via an accretion disc, releasing gravitational energy with an efficiency of order 10-20% of the rest-mass energy. Unlike black holes, neutron stars possess a solid surface and a magnetic field, making NS LMXBs uniquely rich laboratories for high-energy astrophysics and dense-matter physics. In this chapter we review the current understanding of accretion onto neutron stars in LMXBs, tracing matter from the outer disc radii to the stellar surface across five decades of observational discovery. We survey the principal classes of accreting neutron star systems - canonical atoll and Z-sources, ultracompact X-ray binaries, accreting millisecond pulsars, and transitional millisecond pulsars - and discuss how their spectral states, timing properties, and multiwavelength behaviour encode the physics of the inner accretion flow. We examine thermonuclear Type-I X-ray bursts as probes of nuclear burning and neutron star structure, and review the boundary and spreading layers where accreted matter decelerates onto the stellar surface. We discuss relativistic jets and ionised disc winds as regulators of the accretion-ejection cycle. Finally, we present X-ray polarimetric results from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), which for the first time provide new, though model-dependent, constraints on the geometry of the emission regions - disc, corona, spreading layer, and jets - that spectroscopy alone cannot resolve, alongside complementary optical and infrared polarimetric observations.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{baglio2026accreting,
title = {{Accreting Neutron Stars in Low-Mass X-ray Binaries}},
author = {M. C. Baglio and S. E. Motta and A. P. Nitindala and J. Poutanen},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.10691},
eprint = {2610.10691},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10691},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Accreting Neutron Stars in Low-Mass X-ray Binaries
AU - M. C. Baglio
AU - S. E. Motta
AU - A. P. Nitindala
AU - J. Poutanen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.10691
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10691
AB - Neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (NS LMXBs) are systems in which a neutron star accretes matter from a Roche-lobe-filling companion via an accretion disc, releasing gravitational energy with an efficiency of order 10-20% of the rest-mass energy. Unlike black holes, neutron stars possess a solid surface and a magnetic field, making NS LMXBs uniquely rich laboratories for high-energy astrophysics and dense-matter physics. In this chapter we review the current understanding of accretion onto neutron stars in LMXBs, tracing matter from the outer disc radii to the stellar surface across five decades of observational discovery. We survey the principal classes of accreting neutron star systems - canonical atoll and Z-sources, ultracompact X-ray binaries, accreting millisecond pulsars, and transitional millisecond pulsars - and discuss how their spectral states, timing properties, and multiwavelength behaviour encode the physics of the inner accretion flow. We examine thermonuclear Type-I X-ray bursts as probes of nuclear burning and neutron star structure, and review the boundary and spreading layers where accreted matter decelerates onto the stellar surface. We discuss relativistic jets and ionised disc winds as regulators of the accretion-ejection cycle. Finally, we present X-ray polarimetric results from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), which for the first time provide new, though model-dependent, constraints on the geometry of the emission regions - disc, corona, spreading layer, and jets - that spectroscopy alone cannot resolve, alongside complementary optical and infrared polarimetric observations.
ER -